JensKlingmann is a racing driver from Germany who is competing in the various GT racing championships and still searching for his place at the top. He took his only championship title early in a career by winning the Formula BMW ADAC title in 2007. He switched to GT racing in 2009, scoring third place in the 2015 ADAC GT Masters as his best result so far.

Jens Klingmann

Formula BMW champion early in a career

Born in July 1990 in Heidelberg, Jens started his racing career in karting competitions at the age of eight.He spent eight years competing in various karting competitions before moving to formula racing.

In 2006, driving for Eifelland Racing, Klingmann debuted in Formula BMW ADAC. He had four podium finishes in his rookie season and finished 4th overall. The same year he finished 7th in the Formula BMW World Final.

His second year in the series was triumphant after Jens won the title. He won 10 out of 18 races and scored a total of 15 podiums and in dominant style grabbed the trophy, finishing ahead of Philipp Eng, Adrien Tambay, Marco Wittmann etc. In the Formula BMW World Final, Klingmann finished third.

Jens was Formula BMW champion

Short spell in Formula 3 Euro Series

After graduating in Formula BMW, Klingmann switched to Formula 3 Euro Series, driving for RC Motorsports. Unfortunately, the results were any near to the ones achieved in the previous year.

Jens started in 20 races but failed to win a single race or to finish in top 3. Somewhat disappointed, he left formula racing at the end of the season and switched to GT cars events.

Driving for RC Motorsport, Formula 3 Euro Series

Jens switched to GT racing in 2009

In 2009, Klingmann had a pretty busy schedule. In the FIA GT3 European Championship, driving for Alpina team, had a one podium finish but at the end of the year, he was only the 18th.

In ADAC GT Masters, which will become his main competition in the following years, Jens won one race and had one other top 3 finish, what was a solid result knowing that he appeared in only six races, Finally, the German driver raced in three Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo events and won all of them.

Jens driving Lamborghini Gallardo

ADAC GT Masters became priority

The season of 2010 was Klingmann’s first full season in ADAC GT Masters and proved to be a relatively good one. Driving Abt Sportsline’s Audi R8 LMS alongside Kuba Giermaziak and Luca Ludwig, Jens won two races, at Assen and Oschersleben, to finish 5th in the final classification.

In the following season, driving the same car for the same team, he again shared a seat with Ludwig but his main partner was Christer Jons. They failed to win a race but had two 2nd and two 3rd places what was only for the 6th position in the Drivers’ championship for Klingmann.

Jens Klingmann in 2014

In the following season, Jens wasn’t as active. He appeared as a guest in many racing series and also competed in the endurance racing. Driving for BMW Team Vita4one he finished 9th in the 24 Hours of Nurburgring while in 2013 he was 6th, driving for BMW Team Schubert. With the same team, Klingman also drove two ADAC GT Masters races that year and alongside Max Sandritter triumphed at Sachsenring.

Encouraged by a win scored in the previous year, German driver returned to ADAC GT Masters as a full-time driver in 2014. Sharing the duties with Max Sandritter, he was 9th in the final standings failing to score a win despite the fact they had pole position in two races at Slovakia Ring. Klingmann also appeared in Blancpain Sprint Series Cup and VLN.

Video - Klingmann/Baumann winners at Spa

Excellent season of 2015

The 2015 ADAC GT Masters season was the best so far in Klingmann’s career but he wasn’t lucky enough to grab the title. Driving Team Schubert’s BMW Z4 GT3 alongside Dominik Baumann, Klingmann won four races but finished 3rd in the championship.

He also debuted in IMSA United SportsCar Championship, driving in GTLM class. Jens did a good job as he was 2nd at Road Atlanta, while at Daytona and Sebring he finished at the 4th place.

Dominik Baumann and Jens Klingmann in 2015

Two seasons in the IMSA Championship with Turner Motorsport

In 2016, Jens moved his career to the USA, spending a full season in the IMSA SportsCar Championship with Turner Motorsport. He was sharing the #96 BMW M6 GT3 with Bret Curtis in the GTD class. After finishing second at Sebring 12 Hours, they won at Mosport and COTA to finish the season in the sixth place.

Jens spent one more season with Turner Motorsport. In 2017, he was sharing the #96 BMW with Justin Marks, Jesse Krohn or Bret Curtis. He and Jesse Krohn won at Road America and Jens finished fourth in GTD class standings.

In 2018, Klingmann returned to Europe to drive the #14 BMW M6 GT3 for MRS GT-Racing in the ADAC GT Masters, but also races with other BMW teams (Falken Motorsports, Rowe Racing) in other competitions (VLN, Blancpain GT Series).